Arm of the sphinx epub download free

If you hope to keep exploring the Tower: do not get too excited. We visit two and a half? Instead, we get to meet the ruthless tinkerer, that is the Sphinx, and his quirky automatons. The Sphinx is full of riddles, but also full of designs, and it is rewarding to finally see how slowly the various intrigues we could suspect howling around oblivious Thomas take shapes, get names and rationale behind them.

Suddenly, a lot more things start making sense. There is a grand scheme, a reason for all these seemingly disparate events from stolen wives to stolen paintings.

His world building is like a huge matryoshka doll: one open box leads to another leads to another, and another one—all fitting seamlessly together and yet connecting disparate ideas some mystic, some very steampunk, others utterly cosmic. I did appreciate how Mr Bancroft dragged Thomas through the horror of his insecurities and how he made him dependent on the other characters: both literally and figuratively.

The developments in this book range between expected and breathtaking. What happens when one runs out of the Tower to climb? Who is the Brick Layer? What has the Sphinx in common with a spoon and a tea tray?

Why is there a war brewing? Last but not least: Where is Marya? Under normal circumstances, the librarian cat would be more than enough to change me into a fan. In this gem, it is just one of many wonders of an intricate tale, nearly unworthy of mentioning. I can only savour the anticipation of more wonders to come in the next book. Also in the series: 1. Senlin Ascends was a superb read and this book is even better.

I highly recommend going to the author's web site and checking out the artwork. I am very much looking forward to the release of the third book, The Hod King.

I ca Senlin Ascends was a superb read and this book is even better. The world building from book one was so promising even with the slow pace.

Then this book started off really good. The author has a habit of straying from the action in a way that's distracting not tension building. I found myself wanting to do anything but continue reading it. Maybe it picks up and finishes on an upnote like the last book but life's too short to find out.

View all 3 comments. Civilization is like sunshine. While the Tower certainly has civilization to spare, I would be hard pressed to say it was civilized. Barbarity clothed in silk is just as savage possibly more so than barbarity clothed in leather and furs. Considering what Senlin had to go through in the the first book any pretense o Civilization is like sunshine. Considering what Senlin had to go through in the the first book any pretense of the Tower being a beacon of civilization and culture is long gone.

Survival is the name of the game in this ancient artifact, and those that don't recognize it are quickly driven to despair or slavery, locked in this massive asylum run by the inmates. Unlike the first book which concentrated nearly exclusively on Senlin, this installment had more of an ensemble cast feel. In fact for significant lengths of pages Senlin is completely absent from the narrative. I liked this decision Bancroft made, it rounded out the crew nicely and showed that they were motivated by much more than helping their friend Senlin find his wife.

They had their own hopes, dreams, goals, and motivations which move them along their own path in the story instead of being slaved to Senlin's path to serve the book's plot. What they did and the choices they made were informed by their experiences and situation, not just Senlin's needs. We also got to see more of the tower and learn of its inner workings and secrets, not to mention being exposed to two conspiracies that will likely have major implications of the Tower and its ringdoms.

Bancroft really did a top notch job envisioning and realizing the peculiar, exotic, yet wholly realistic cultures and societies within this strange and immense structure. Human politics, vanities, shortcomings, and vices play out here just as much as they would in the real world, but these impulses are channeled into interesting places due to the environment Bancroft has created for them.

Instead of countries vying to control more land or resources, ringdoms kingdoms that occupy one or several rings or Tower levels , when they do go into conflict, compete for the tower levels that separate them.

Sometimes this results in whole levels being turned into de facto buffer zones with neither neighboring power occupying it. It is within these holes in ringdom control that one particularly dangerous conspiracy is growing and preparing to spread.

Bancroft clearly has an excellent grasp of this strange geopolitical ecosystem and I look forward to how he will let the events unfold. But as much as I enjoyed this book it clearly had the hallmarks of a middle book in a series. I wouldn't exactly say that the plot was stagnant, Senlin and crew are pretty active for most of the story, but the path of character development was very much concentrated on getting each of the characters into a certain place both physically and in terms of a frame of mind by the end of the book.

It was welcomed character development, don't get me wrong, and very well down in all cases, but Bancroft was clearly using this book to get his characters into a position he needs them to be in for the next book. This book is setting the board for the game that will play out in the third book and that goal somewhat diminishes the importance and effectiveness of this second installment. But such is the fate of most second books, especially in trilogies. This was still a great read and offers up so many tantalizing revelations that will I'm sure blossom in fascinating and unexpected ways in the next installment.

Since I loved Senlin Ascends I was a bit afraid to start part 2. What if I didn't like it! There was no need to worry because I also loved this second book.

More amazing adventures, more unexpected people and events, more imagination More Alice in Wonderland. Before reading this book I thought I knew The author could not surprise me again Could he? Well he could and he did and I am just so excited about these books! I simply can't wait for The Hod King, it is among my most anticipated books of I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I found Arm of the Sphinx particularly at the beginning to be far more action-oriented than Senlin Ascends. Whereas the previous book starts rather sedately building the setting of the illustrious Tower of Babel and the character of Thomas Senlin this time around Bancroft starts things off with an action-packed bang. The start of Arm of the Sphinx is akin to a piratical tale as the Stone Cloud the airship that Senlin and now going under the alias Captain Tom Mudd stole at the end of Senlin Ascends and its crew of intrepid explorers are forced by necessity into a life of pirating as they attempt to find a way back in to the Tower of Babel.

Things do somewhat taper off after Senlin and the crew manage to re-enter the aforementioned Tower and after their adventure in the Silk Gardens concludes. When they finally meet the mysterious Sphinx the book changes to focusing more on the characters and their individual development. Though ably supported by a secondary cast of characters Senlin Ascends was predominantly the lone tale of Thomas Senlin and his search for Marya, his wife.

With Arm of the Sphinx Bancroft switches style so that the once secondary set of characters are all given more pages to themselves and time in the story. The Tower of Babel is as much an integral part of the story as any of the other characters and is an utterly fascinating creation and setting. To go with the crew of the Stone Cloud who we already know a few new characters are introduced by Bancroft.

Without going into any undue detail I particularly found the Sphinx from the title of the book to be an absolutely enigmatic and surreal character and there was also something superb about Byron a secondary character too.

For me, the main focus in Arm of the Sphinx was in further developing and exploring the characters and in that aspect Bancroft does a wonderful job.

Everyone is fully fleshed out and realised and you will find no one-dimensional cardboard cutout characters here. Arm of the Sphinx leaves you wanting to find out what happens next, is a stellar continuation of The Books of Babel and an absolute pleasure to read. The Books of Babel are an extravaganza of ingenuity. Five Stars. A positively magnificent explosion of imagination and adventure. Just as much fun and excitement as the first book in the series, but boldly going places not even dreamed of in the first book.

Arm of the Sphinx is the second of four planned books in the series, although i would really like a dozen more books in this series. The first book dared to imagine a world where the biblical Tower of Babel existed as one of the - if not the best one -- great wonders of the ancient world.

But i Five Stars. But it's a world where there are air ships and steam trains and mechanical arms. It took our antihero Senlin for a journey from his life as a schoolteacher to the great swirling marketplace at the base of the tower and through the dizzying lower levels of the great tower which revealed a mad sinister world of basements and betrayals and cathouses and ports and Senlin's development.

Book two picks up Senlin's adventures as he and his intrepid crew consisting of a one-armed first mate, a flying acrobat, a giantess warrior, and a backstabber -- become the most feared pirates ringing the great tower, great aerial battles, adventures in a seemingly deserted level. Of course, all the adventures are great but ultimately they lead him to the lair of the Sphinx and those who serve the Sphinx and the mad crazy world of the Sphinx.

It is well-written, filled with excitement and surprises, and simply put great fun. As Senlin and his merry crew - go from one amazing adventure to the next. Sort of Hitchhiker's Guide meets the Hobbit. Tell me when the next one is coming out.

Apr 20, Klaus rated it it was amazing. Aug 25, Bradley rated it really liked it Shelves: steampunk , shelf , fantasy. No, not the literary kind.

The story kind! Senlin has taken on a new name and with his intrepid crew, they're flying the skies, being polite, and relieving captains of their loot, and generally progressing the character arcs. Multiple character arcs this time, not just focusing on Senlin. I'm really enjoying the ride. Senlin seems to be going mad, Adam is trying to get back in everyone's good graces, Edith is going through a mid-life crisis trying to keep Senlin's secrets and dealing with Piracy!

Senlin seems to be going mad, Adam is trying to get back in everyone's good graces, Edith is going through a mid-life crisis trying to keep Senlin's secrets and dealing with her own armless issues, and our favorite acrobat is just plain delightful.

This book is utterly steampunk. We've gone through the effort of introducing the world and characters quite nicely in the first and now we've got a somewhat random adventure time as they try to figure out how to find Senlin's missing wife or find enough to eat. Worth it?

This book has a few interesting and creative areas, and without spoiling too much about either the nature of or the details within either, the crew is headed to a zoo and a library. And few things are quite as they seem and the circumstances are pretty fantastic. This is the best quality of these books.

Creative and fantastic, with well-drawn characters, cool worldbuilding, and even a platform for a bit of a philosophical ramble. But no worries, it's just there to spice things up and make the text stand out. Not to mention the purpose of the tower! There are a lot of reveals in the second half of the book and overall, it's a bit less meandering. This is a middle book. It's kinda obvious. Must wait for more. Feb 20, Scarlett Readz and Runz That ending!?!

Review to follow :. Jan 12, Pranav Prabhu rated it really liked it. Arm of the Sphinx continues Thomas Senlin and his motley crew's adventures through the unassuming but dangerous Tower of Babel. This book, in my opinion, was a significant step up in almost every way from its predecessor.

Instead of following the PoV of only Senlin, this book features more varied perspective characters from his crew, and it gives an insight into their personalities and motivations and character development, making them much more compelling than the tarnished view we might have g Arm of the Sphinx continues Thomas Senlin and his motley crew's adventures through the unassuming but dangerous Tower of Babel.

Instead of following the PoV of only Senlin, this book features more varied perspective characters from his crew, and it gives an insight into their personalities and motivations and character development, making them much more compelling than the tarnished view we might have gotten from Senlin's perspective in the previous novel.

The worldbuilding and lore of the Tower continue to be expanded on; this unique and creatively crafted word of the Tower feels rich and alive and always managed to keep me intrigued even when the pacing slowed down in the middle sections. This book also read more easily compared to Senlin Ascends with a steady but never boring pace throughout, keeping me interested in these characters and the world.

However, one thing that Senlin Ascends did better than Arm of the Sphinx, I feel, was to have the spark that ignited curiosity and awe regarding the world. The book was engaging, but the initial feeling of the Tower was something I experienced more while reading Senlin Ascends. Overall, this was an excellent book with mysteries and revelations that make me want to pick up The Hod King immediately.

View 1 comment. May 29, Alex Givant rated it it was amazing Shelves: audio , read-again , reread , best-of , best-of , the-books-of-babel. Thomas continue to look for his wife and have a lot of adventures during the way. Mar 28, Wol rated it it was amazing Shelves: fantasy. I spent the better part of last year kicking myself for not snapping a copy of Arm of the Sphinx back when Josiah was a self-published author, so this re-release has been a long wait for me.

Where Senlin Asce I spent the better part of last year kicking myself for not snapping a copy of Arm of the Sphinx back when Josiah was a self-published author, so this re-release has been a long wait for me. Where Senlin Ascends was the desperate and at times claustrophobic account of an unprepared man clinging to who he had been before the tower, in Arm of the Sphinx we meet a craftier Thomas Senlin, changed immeasurably by his time there.

Long gone is the optimistic, plucky fop who held fast to the belief that everything would turn out fine despite all evidence to the contrary. He and the merry band of misfits he gathered to him in the first book have now taken to the skies in a stolen airship as pirates, in what proves to be a more prominently Steampunk outing.

The primary goal remains to find Marya. In order to do this, they must find a way back in to the tower, which proves approximately as difficult as getting out had been. Circumstances have grown somewhat more complicated, however. Thomas is struggling in his new position of leadership, not least because he is secretly haunted by visions of his wife, who chides and taunts him.

The relationships between the crew grow deeply engaging over the course of the story. The prose, as with the previous entry, is gorgeous. Descriptions always feel on point no matter how surreal things get, making visualization easy on the reader. Bancroft has a real knack for simile and metaphor, and occasionally he straight up punches you right in the heart with some pithy observation about life, love and loss. The plotting is tight, well planned and towards the finish, breathless.

It culminates in an ending that first made me furious with some of the characters and then left me open-mouthed and swearing with amusement. Things are getting very interesting indeed. Overall, an excellent second entry — the wait for the Hod King is going to be excruciating. Magical and imaginative. Full review to follow.

It certainly deserves it! One of the most unique series I have ever read and I think it's safe to say that Josiah Bancroft has a new fan. This confirms not that Senlin Ascends really had me wondering that Josiah Bancroft is the real thing.

What really struck me with this was the sense of things converging. Little bits and pieces of the previous book that I had forgotten about came up again with added significance.

There are some books George RR Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and Scott Lynch, I'm looking at you where, as great as the books are, I get the feeling of a driver barely in control of the car.

It's going in the direction th This confirms not that Senlin Ascends really had me wondering that Josiah Bancroft is the real thing. It's going in the direction they want, but any second it might go off somewhere they can't predict. There's none of that here. My big complaint about these books though "complaint" is way too strong a term has been how little we know about Marya.

She's the driving force behind all of Senlin's actions, and yet since we haven't actually seen her since the first few pages of the previous book, we completely forget about her.

I don't want to say too much, because of spoilers, but this absence is addressed in a meaningful and satisfying way. To sum up: this is pretty much the epitome of the hidden Indy gem.

Go read it. Get this man attention so he can get a contract, and can write full time, and I get more books. Your Comment:. Read Online Download. Great book, The Arm of the Starfish pdf is enough to raise the goose bumps alone.

Add a review Your Rating: Your Comment:. Troubling a Star by Madeleine L'Engle. This quiet man of letters must become a man of action. Forced into a life of piracy, Senlin and his eclectic crew are struggling to survive aboard their stolen airship as the hunt to rescue Senlin's lost wife continues. Hopeless and desolate, they turn to a legend of the Tower, the mysterious Sphinx. But help from the Sphinx never comes cheaply, and as Senlin knows, debts aren't always what they seem in the Tower of Babel.

Time is running out, and now Senlin must choose between his friends, his freedom, and his wife. Does anyone truly escape the Tower? Alone in the city, Senlin infiltrates a bloody arena where hods battle for the public's entertainment. But his investigation is quickly derailed by a gruesome crime and an unexpected reunion.

Posing as a noble lady and her handmaid, Voleta and Iren attempt to reach Marya, who is isolated by her fame. While navigating the court, Voleta attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful prince whose pursuit of her threatens their plan.

Edith, now captain of the Sphinx's fierce flagship, joins forces with a fellow wakeman to investigate the disappearance of a beloved friend.